Police have finally nabbed one of the most infamous environmental criminals in the world. Chinese national Yang Feng Glan (known as the “Ivory Queen”) was arrested in Tanzania on charges of poaching and smuggling ring. Glan is responsible for countless kills of elephants for their ivory. Glan, 66, would travel between China and the killing fields in open defiance of international and environmental laws. Despite her notoriety and serving an insatiable Chinese market for ivory, Chinese officials never arrested Glan.
However, a special task force from Tanzania’s National and Transnational Serious Crimes Investigation Unit was following her in her blood-soaked travels between Beijing, Uganda and Tanzania. She was the link between African poachers and buyers in China for elephant ivory and rhino horns. She is now charged with smuggling ivory worth $3 million between 2000 and 2014.
The arrest of Glan is a huge victory for the environment. Glan has left a gory legacy on the fields of Africa in butchering animals. She has reportedly confessed and faces a maximum sentence of 20 to 30 years imprisonment. Hopefully, she will not ever see another day in freedom.
Karen S
What was deleted was my animosity toward poachers…
… They should be subject to their own cruelties.
“We could use Mr. Ed commenting here and lose a few borderline commenters”
So much for lovers of free speech…
Karen, Horses can be smarter and more empathetic than many humans. Dogs as well. We could use Mr. Ed commenting here and lose a few borderline commenters.
Nick:
Thanks. Horses are amazing animals. I recall seeing a very green horse save his rider in a bad jumping accident. He stumbled and they completely crashed a fence, she came over his head and the worst happened – they got tangled up. He actually caught her with his head and held her up as high as he could while he smashed the fence. We were all freaking out because we were sure he was going to crush her. And then, instead of bolting on the other side with her dragging, he just stood there quietly while she got down. The whole time he remembered where his feet were and didn’t step on her. It was very unusual for a green horse to have such presence of mind in an accident. But she was a great rider.
Karen, I learn a lot from you, and not just about horses. Our interest in horses is different. I love to bet on them, but have an appreciation, taught to me by my old man, of what magnificent animals they are. You have a much more profound and hands on appreciation.
Karen,
That is HORRIBLE!!!
I had no idea that they did this to these horses.
On a sort of lighter note..
EVERY time I see horses, I think of this. 😀
I LOVE Dressage
What was deleted? I missed it.
No matter the deletions Mr. Turley… an eyetooth for a tusk.
She deserves to feel their pain…
I recall my own Percheron draft horse came with horrid shoes when we bought him. His type is kind of between the strong, placid farm type and the fancy moving hitch type Percheron. To make him pick his feet up higher, they had allowed his hooves to grow improperly, flaring in all directions until his feet looked like they were melting. Then they put on thick, heavy shoes to make his feet even heavier. This made him pick his feet up higher to make him look like he had more vertical movement.
We just keep him barefoot, got his hooves trimmed so they’re normal and healthy, and we show him in farm classes. He’s healthy and happy, and easy to handle.
Once an animal is worth money, it is doomed.
Take, for example, what goes on in the Tennessee Walking Horse shows. (Because I can always turn every conversation to horses in 6 segues or less.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UObsbjyHxt8
On the right is a naturally gaited Tennessee Walking horse, a smooth pleasure to ride. On the left they are doing the Big Lick. In order to get the horse to do this, they put 8 pound stacks on each hoof, causing deep scars to form on the pasterns. They often cheat and sore the feet, so the horse will heave his heavy shoes up high, with an additional boost for extreme pain. In some shows, they ginger the tail to get a high tail set. The stacks raise the front end of the horse 4 inches or more higher, so the hind end is now ungainly sprawled. This causes a very painful back, because they are no longer standing flat and even.
Here is a close up video of Gem’s Ice Glimmer doing the Big Lick, which to anyone who rides horses looks so painful and ungainly:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0G95-ANvkPE
As a horse lover, I cannot understand how this goes on every day here in the US, and why anyone would find this beautiful. This kind of riding is foreign to me.
I’m so glad they got her. She was instrumental in a trade that killed half a million elephants, just for their tusks. What a terrible waste. So many people go hungry on the African continent, and they leave all these carcasses rotting, endangering an entire species, so they can make something “pretty” out of the tusks.
I pray that there is a paradigm shift in Asian attitudes towards marine mammals and endangered species. If it’s endangered, somewhere in Asia its body parts are considered an aphrodisiac, fountain of youth, health food, or just decorative. Rare is worth more dead than alive. Plus there is the infamous Blood Cove dolphin slaughter. We need to stream Flipper, Tarzan, and any other feel-good animal movies all the time. Plus it would be lovely if they would fall in love with pets like we do, because the plight of dogs and cats in China is atrocious. Every culture is different, but when one helps drain the entire globe of endangered species, it affects us all.
I agree with.. Annie?! and Olly. Far too cynical these days. The incentive for profit is too great, someone will go for it. I could see the Chinese gov’t bankrolling this under the table.
It is heartening to see JT passionate about other aspects of environmentalism. Taking care of living creatures, the oceans, wetlands. Ensuring biodiversity. Recycling and not producing so much waste. That is the environmentalism myself and many people can abide.
I agree with comment of justagurlinseattle.
“…blood-soaked travels…”
That’s a pretty dramatic writing style JT. 14 years? That would require some high-ranking enablers from more than one country. She is a disgusting POS but after 14 years, who did she forget to pay off?
Olly – maybe JT took a creative writing class. 😉
Humans in China need to reject this Ivory fetish.
Glad she was caught. Who is trying her?
As part of her punishment the government needs to pull out all of her teeth. Then make little carvings into the front of the teeth and hang each one on a gold chain. Then play the song which is titled Ebony and Ivory, at the high end jewelry store in New York where the high price items are sold.
The lyrics start: “Ebony and Ivory. Together in perfect harmony. Side by side at the lamp post, you can see….” etc.
We need to outlaw the sale of all ivory products in America.
Good riddance, but I’m sure some other Chinese national will step into her place post haste, because that tusk powder is like gold dust.
I wish she was caught in one of the countries that shoots poachers ON SITE.
This female is a disgusting excuse for a human.